Local branches of the Multnomah County Library system are kicking off the largest-ever Summer Reading program.
Young readers or their parents can begin by picking up a gameboard from any Multnomah County library. The gameboards are customized for three age groups: birth – preschool (also available in Spanish), grades K – 6 and grades 7 – 12.
Readers engage in any number of literacy-building activities and track their progress on their gameboards. As gameboards are completed, the participants earn books, coupons for ice cream or swimming and other prizes. Parents can also register to win a $1,000 Oregon College Savings Plan account from the Oregon College Savings Plan when they register their children.
Studies show that over the summer months, students lose about two months of reading comprehension skills. The Summer Reading program helps close that gap by giving kids an incentive to come to the library during the summer and take part in performances and activities. Most importantly, they return to school with their reading skills intact, ready to build on what they learned the year before.
“As a community, and a nation, there is great concern about the achievement gap – the gulf between the kids who succeed academically, and the kids who start school already behind the eight ball and never catch up,” said Director of Libraries, Vailey Oehlke. “The Summer Reading program is a powerful tool to change that and help struggling students be successful.”
For more information, visit multcolib.org/summer.
